The drive assembly of front wheel drive vehicles often requires replacement of some of its components due to wear. These drive assemblies are subjected to severe stresses both torsional and angular due to both the necessity for steering the vehicle and the vertical movement of the drive assembly as the vehicle traverses uneven surfaces. This results in wear requiring replacement of some of the components of the drive assembly. Particularly is this true of splined shaft connections where wear occurs on the splines and the spline channels resulting in play between the spline teeth and spline channels. To replace the worn parts it is first necessary to remove them. These parts are normally press fitted into their housing, the fit being with sufficient force to positively lock the parts together frictionally. The frictional interfit between the parts will normally become more binding as a result of a long interval of use.
In the facilities where such repairs are made, even those which are most extensively tooled for making these repairs there are few tools specifically designed for the removal of these worn parts. There are even fewer tools so designed that they can be successfully used to remove the worn parts and also remove salvageable parts without damage to such parts. Consequently, it is common practice to remove these parts by impact tools such as a chisel or bar to which the operator applies a hammer or other impact tool. The result of this is that all parts so removed are scrap. Also, the time necessary to accomplish the job is excessive.